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Publication Information

Source: Using BAER Reports to Investigate Recreation Impacts of Fire Events. In: Proceedings of the Fourth Social Aspects and Recreation Research Symposium; 2004 February 4-6; San Francisco, California. San Francisco State University. 120-125

Description: In 2000 and 2002, the U.S. experienced two of the worst fire seasons in 50 years. In 2000 there were 122,827 recorded fires that burned 8.4 million acres and destroyed 861 structures and in 2002 there were 88,458 fires that burned roughly 7 million acres, destroyed more than 800 structures, and took the lives of 23 firefighters (National Interagency Fire Center, 2002). This pattern is likely to increase because past land management has left abundant fuels, especially in the wildland-urban interface (Bogue, 1985; Cortner, Gardner & Taylor, 1990; Daniel, Meitner & Weidemann, 1997; Gardner & Cortner, 1985). It is estimated that 190 million acres of public lands are at elevated risk of severe wildfires (USDA, 2003). U.S. forests are important because they provide benefits to urban and rural communities in the forms of recreation, wood products, clean and adequate water, wildlife habitat, scenic quality, and jobs (Jensen, 2003).